Lady
Pirates win Districty titleWith a pair of come-from-behind victories the Prairie Lady Pirates
won their fourth straight District Championship at Lewiston Thursday and
Friday, May 9-10.
On Thursday they defeated Troy 5-4 and on Friday they defeated Genesee
6-3.

vs. Troy

A run-scoring triple by Hailey Danly in the bottom of the sixth turned
out to be the winning run in a 5-4 win over Troy in
the opening round at District.
Troy took the early lead with a run in the first as a single, walk,
and a single started the game for the Trojans. Pitcher Leah Holthaus was
able to minimize the damage as she induced a pop-up to second baseman Danly,
a foul pop-up that catcher Sky Wilson and a grounder to third for a forceout
to get out of the inning.
2 errors and 2 singles led to 2 more runs for Troy in the second inning
as they took a 0-3 lead.
Meanwhile, after a 1-2-3 first, Prairie loaded the bases with nobody
out in the second inning on back-to-back singles by Taylor Nuxoll and Kendall
Schumacher and a walk by Mackenzie Rieman. Prairie was unable to score
though as 2 strikeouts and a groundout to short ended the inning.
Prairie broke through in the third though thanks to a couple of Troy
errors along with 3 singles and a walk.
Danly singled with 1-out, moved to second on a wild pitch and
then to third on a groundout by Tanna Schlader that the Prairie coaches
thought should have been a catcher’s interference. The out stood though
and Prairie had to come up with a 2-out rally. Nuxoll walked and Schumacher
singled to left to score Danly. Rieman then hit a grounder to third that
was bobbled for an error as Nuxoll scored. Holthaus then beat out a bunt
single that scored Schumacher with the tying run.
After struggling the first two inning, Holthaus had settled down in
the third and fourth but ran into trouble in the fifth.
Consecutive errors and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out for
Troy. The next batter hit a ground ball to Rieman at third who threw home
for the forceout. The next hitter flew out to Nuxoll in short left field
and Nuxoll’s throw to the plate kept the runner on third. Prairie then
got out of the inning with another flyball out, this one to Kelsey Tidwell
in center.
Prairie took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth.
Schlader walked to lead off the inning and Nuxoll followed with a single
to left. After an out, Rieman hit a grounder to second for a forceout as
Schlader scored the go-ahead run.
Troy managed to tie it in the top of the sixth after a leadoff single
and a successful sacrifice bunt. The runner on second then attempted to
go to third and the base umpire appeared to call her out at third. He then
reversed himself and said he had called her safe, which appeared to be
the correct call. She then scored on a groundout to first to make it 4-4.
Schumacher may have had a play at the plate but took the sure out.
In the bottom of the sixth Tidwell reached on a rare error by Troy’s
shortstop. Wilson moved Tidwell to second with a sacrifice bunt that she
nearly beat out for a hit. Danly then hit the first pitch she saw in her
at bat to the gap in right center. Tidwell scored easily and as Danly reached
third, she stumbled over the bag as she tried to stop and was tagged out
before she could get back to the base.
Troy attempted to rally in the top of the seventh with a 1-out single
bracketed by a pair of fly ball outs to Tidwell in center. A walk moved
the tying run to second and put the go-ahead run on at first but the next
batter hit the ball right back to Holthaus who easily threw her out at
first to end the game.
Prairie had 7 hits in the game as Danly had a triple and a single and
an RBI. Schumacher had 2 singles and an RBI. Nuxoll also had 2 singles
and Holthaus had an RBI bunt single.
Holthaus gave up 7 hits, all singles, with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts.
In fact Danly’s triple was the only extra-base hit in the game.
Troy 1 2 0 0 0 1 0—4 7 2
Prairie 0 0 3 0 1 1 x—5 7 4

Championship vs. Genesee

In the championship game against Genesee on Friday, May 10, a 4-run rally
in the top of the fifth turned around a 2-3 deficit as Prairie beat the
Bulldogs for the first time in 3 tries this season.
Prairie
had their first lead of the season against Genesee with a 2-run first inning.
Wilson led off with a walk but was caught stealing. Danly followed
with a 4-pitch walk. Schlader then doubled to right center with Danly going
to third. Danly had to hold up as there was a chance the ball might have
been caught.
Nuxoll then singled home both runners for a 2-0 Prairie lead.
Genesee bounced back with a run in the bottom of the first on a walk
with the batter advancing to third on a pair of pitches that got past the
catcher. She then scored on a sacrifice fly.
In the second Genesee tied it with 3 singles.
Genesee took the lead in the third with an infield single, sacrifice
and another single. That would be the final run for the Bulldogs who would
put runners on in the fourth, fifth and sixth but nobody made it past second
thanks to the Prairie defense.
Prairie had opportunities to score in the second, third and fourth
innings but couldn’t get the key hit to get the runners home. They kept
pounding the ball to the infielders for forceouts at second.
In the fifth they got a big break with a couple of errors. Wilson led
off by reaching on a throwing error by the third baseman, who had played
stellar defense to that point. Danly then blooped a single to short right
field. Schlader grounded a ball back to the pitcher but she couldn’t find
the handle on the ball and the bases were load.
After a strikeout, Schumacher drew a bases loaded walk to tie the game
as Wilson scored. Rieman then drew another bases loaded walk to put Prairie
ahead 4-3.
At that point Genesee changed pitchers and Holthaus greeted her with
a bunt single that saw Schlader scoring from third. Amanda Dinning followed
with a bloop hit over third that scored Schumacher to make the score 6-3.
Prairie had a chance to add on in the sixth as Wilson and Danly each
singled to start the inning. A grounder to third forced Wilson and a couple
of fly balls got Genesee out of the jam.
Meanwhile Holthaus gave up just 2 baserunners over the final 3 innings.
She got the third out on a pop-up after a 2-out single in the fifth. After
a leadoff walk in the sixth Schlader snagged a line drive at shortstop
and with a better throw would’ve doubled the runner off first. The next
two hitters both flew out to Nuxoll in left field.
In the seventh she got the side out in order to end the game.
Prairie had 11 hits in the game with Dinning collecting 3 singles and
an RBI. Danly and Wilson had 2 singles each while Schlader had a double.
Nuxoll had a single and 2 RBI. Schumacher and Holthaus each had a single
and 1 RBI.
Holthaus allowed 8 hits, all singles, with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.
Prairie takes a 15-4 record into the State Tournament which starts
this Friday at noon at Airport Park in Lewiston against Greenleaf.
Genesee beat Troy in the second place game and will play Horseshoe
Bend, also at noon Friday.
Prairie 2 0 0 0 4 0 0—7 11 0
Genesee 1 1 1 0 0 0 0—3 8 3

Lady
Pirates to play Greenleaf in state openerThe 1-A state softball tournament is set for this Friday and Saturday,
May 17-18, at Airport Park in Lewiston.
Prairie will play Greenleaf and Genesee will play Horseshoe Bend at
noon. The Greenleaf matchup will be a rematch of last year's state title
game.
Second round games are set for 3 p.m. with the first round losers on
one field and the first round winners on another.
The loser of the winner’s bracket game will play the loser-out survivor
at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The winner of that game will play the tournament’s
unbeaten team at noon in what could be the state championship game, if
the winner’s bracket team should win. If the loser’s bracket survivor wins
there will be a second, winner-take-all, championship game at 2 p.m.